Smokeless powder.



Nrrs TAT HARVEY w. WILEY, or WASHINGTON, DISTRICT or COLUMBIA, .Afissieuou TO THE MARSDEN COMPANY, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA. g

smou susssrownsu.

SPEOIFIGATION forming part of ram Patent No. 678,070. dated awn 30,1901.

Application flied January 11, 1899- 1'6 tall whom it may concern: i i W 7 Be it known that I, HARVEY W. WILEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Wash ington, in the District'of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Smokeless Powder, of which the following is a specification. i

It is well known that the basis of ordinary smokeless powders is nitrated cellulose made, as a rule, from cotton. As guncottoh is made of nearly pure cellulose, itscombustion is so rapid and violent that it is necessary to mix with it some deterrent substance, many different kinds having been employed, and certain oxygen-furnishing bodies are also added to supply the oxygen needed for complete combustion. Without such deterrent substances the powder is too violent, with them the power of the powder is often too much reduced,-and in any event the effect is uncertain and irregular, constituting a grave defect when the powder is to be employed for military purposes.

I have discovered that vegetable pith (as, for instance, the pith of lndiaurcorn stalks, sunflower-stalks, &c., in its natural conditiou-that -is, untreated with alkali or other solvents) contains in uniform andregular quantities certain carbohydrate substances such as ,peniosans, ligno-celluloses, and lig-v nins-in such quantities as to constitute the most perfect, efiective, and properly-proportioued deterr at that could be desired. Thus the vegetabl pith in its natural condition contains about fifty per cent. of pure cellulose and in addition carbohydrates constituting natural deterrent substances in properproportion to produce the most eflective explosive. Further, these natural deterrentsubstances are themselves of a character capable of nitration, so that they not only diminish the violence of the detonation of the explosive, but themselves store the nitryl element in a form suitable to aid combustion and render it more uniform.

In the usual manufacture of explosives where cotton is, not employed it is common to treat the material (wood fiber, pulp, 8m.) with al'kalies, which have theeffect of removin'g any carbohydrates which would constitute natural deterrents. In nitrating cellu- Serinl No. 701.841. (No specimens.)

lose also it has been the custom to use acid mixtures, which are very expensive and which are dangerous, causing frequent explosions by the heat generated in the process.

My improvement is attended with the great advantage that the material maybe nitrated in thequovel manner constituting the subject of my application for Letters PatenLSerial .No. 67l,687--'i. e., the nitrate of soda is used in quantities about five times the weight of fiber or pith employed. After saturating and drying, the mass is treated at a very lowtem perature (secured by immersing the containing vessel in cold or ice water) with from eight to twelve grams of sulfuric acid for each gram of pith which-has been used. The

mass is well mixed with the acid, so as to iusure its contact with allparts thereofland is set aside for from six to twenty-four hours. At the end of. this time the nitration is complete." The mass is washed repeatedly in water to remove as much as possible of the free acid, and finaliythe last traces which are not readily removed by water may be neutralized by a'weak alkali, such as carbonate ofw'sodium or barium hydrate. The nitrated mass isthen dried and dissolved in the desired re- 1 agent. For other grades of nitration or for other purposesthe details of the process may be varied; but the essential principles are not altered. The natural pith thus nitrated constitutes of itself a most desirable and edcct ivee'xplosive, safe to handle, not subject to decomposition, capable of preservation for any desired length of time, and uniform in character, while it is safely and easily manufactured from a single natural substance.

I will now proceed to describe certain forms of explosives in which my invention has been embodied, promising the statement, however,

maize-pith is'macerated until plastic with a suitable solvent, as other, acetone, (3533.; out ethyl acetate has been found to be the best solvent for the p urpose. it is then rolled dissolved particles, so that they can be formed into a thin sheet and cut into small piecesand dried, o'rit is molded in any,

suitable manner,

2. A. formula suitable for blasting consists of nitrated maize-pith, eighty parts; barium nitrate, fifteen parts; potassium nitrate, four parts; calcium carbonate, one part. The salts are dissolved in just sufficient water to, thoroughly moisten the nitrated pith, and theso lution, together with the. calcium carbonate, is incorporatedwith the nitrated pith. The

material is dried, ground, and macerated with amyl acetate,'as above described. (No. 1.)

"Phe plastic mass is rolled into'a thin sheet and cut into smallpieces and dried.

3. Where greater sharpness of explosion is required, I use the following} Nitrated pith, eighty parts; am moninm trinitro cresylate or picrate, twenty parts; barium nitrate, ten parts; calcium carbonate, two parts. The

preparation is similar to that of mixture N o. 2. This formula is varied by using instead of the ammonium t-rinitro cresylate or picrate the nitroderivatives of the aromatic.hydro-. carbons, such as trinitro-phenol, tri-nitrobenzol, nitro naphthalene, &c.

' The solvent above referred to is intended to act partially only on .the pith, securi'ng'a solution which acts as a paste or eeinent to insure under pressure the adhesion of the uninto acom paratively solid body, retaining its and condition.

substantially as set forth.

' two 's'ubsc ribin g witnesses.

7: The proper adhesiveness-of tne nltrated pith and a convenient densityis also seen red by subjecting it in suitable quantities to hydraulic pressure, thus securinga highly-usein the manncrdescribed,said product consisting of a mixture of di and tri nitrocellulose, the latterpredominating, together with thenitrate'd products of the pentosans and .ligno-cell-uloses I present in the natural pith.

It contains a percentage of nitrogen varying from nine to eleven. 7

Without limiting myself to the materials and proportions specified, I clainr An explosive consisting of'a nitrated natural pith composed of nitrated cellulose, ni-

trated ligno-cllulose and nitrated pentosans,

In testimony whereof I have'signed my name to thisspecification in the presence of H. W. WILEY.- Witnesses: I i

. LAURA B. HOLDERBY, A. 0. Von IIERB'ULIS. 

